Blizzard scuttled blood donations: Islanders urged to present arms - it's a matter of life and death

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Blood, a vital commodity in the best of times, is in short supply due to the holiday-week blizzard, and donors are urgently needed.

The storm knocked out more than 2,000 scheduled blood donations, according to the New York Blood Center, which supplies blood to New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and New Jersey.

On Staten Island, the snow shuttered the NYBC office in New Springville and the blood-donor room at Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze. Both sites opened Tuesday, but with many roads still impassable, blood donors were scarce.

At SIUH, only two of the six people who had previously registered to donate blood showed up, said Maura Timmins-Baeszler, blood-donor recruiter for the hospital.

Across the Island, on the West Shore, the Blood Services Center in New Springville fared a little better.

"Tuesday, we were able to open and actually 13 people came out, which is lower than what we look to collect but kind of amazing considering the storm that we had on Monday," said Miranda McAuliffe, who leads the borough blood campaigns for Brooklyn/Staten Island Blood Services, a division of NYBC.

The Blood Services Center, located at 2791 Richmond Ave., is closed today and tomorrow but will open on New Year's Day and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Also on Sunday, the center will have a mobile blood donation bus parked outside the Staten Island Mall from noon to 4:30 p.m. Donors for this drive will receive a voucher for a pair of Mets tickets to an April or May game.

"One of the most critical points is the week between Christmas and New Year's," said Mrs. Timmins-Baeszler. Many of the blood collections come from schools and colleges, which are closed for recess, she said.

"But there's always a need for blood," added Mrs. Timmins-Baeszler.

According to the NYBC, about one in seven people who are brought to a hospital will require blood. January is National Blood Donor Month.

Diane O'Donnell is the Health editor at the Advance. She may be reached at odonnell@siadvance.com.